Chapter 8 - THE LIE ELIAS TOLD FIRST
Elias did not run.
That helped.
He sat at Richard’s conference table and admitted everything.
Charles found him three years earlier.
At first Elias refused contact.
Then his mother became sick.
Cancer.
No insurance.
Charles paid for treatment.
Elias accepted.
He hated himself for it.
After Marlene died, Charles continued trying.
Three months before his own death, he asked Elias to meet.
Elias agreed.
“Why?”
“Because he said Serena was trying to have Victoria declared incompetent.”
Victoria stared.
“Before my fall?”
“Yes.”
Charles showed him draft petitions.
Medical notes.
Statements.
Serena had been preparing.
Elias continued:
“He said he needed someone outside the family system.”
“You were family.”
“Not to anyone who mattered.”
Serena flinched.
He looked at her.
“That wasn’t about you.”
“It sounded like it.”
Elias continued.
Charles asked him to become a contingency beneficiary.
Elias refused.
Then Charles said:
“You don’t have to want the company. You only have to keep Serena from inheriting it by default.”
Serena laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Elias looked at her.
“He was afraid of you.”
“Good.”
Victoria stared.
Serena meant it.
Then Elias revealed more.
Charles believed Serena was being manipulated.
Not acting alone.
Someone was feeding her information about Victoria.
Hospital.
Trust.
Competency.
Financial exposure.
Lydia.
Serena’s assistant.
Elias told Charles to fire her.
Charles refused.
He wanted to know who Lydia worked for.
That is why he hired Knox.
Victoria asked:
“Did Charles know who stole the $38 million?”
“No.”
“Did he suspect Lydia?”
“Yes.”
“Why not put that in the will?”
“Because he thought she was a middleman.”
Richard opened Knox’s files.
Inside were photographs.
Lydia meeting with:
a lender,
a board member,
a private doctor,
and Robert Mercer.
Serena frowned.
“Uncle Robert?”
Charles’s younger brother.
Seventy-four.
Board chairman emeritus.
Living in Florida.
Serena laughed.
“He can barely walk.”
Richard said:
“He can still sign.”
Robert Mercer had fought Charles for control decades earlier.
Lost.
Then remained close enough to look harmless.
Victoria asked:
“Could he inherit?”
Richard checked.
No.
But his son could benefit from a breakup sale through an investment fund.
There it was.
Money.
Old resentment.
Corporate leverage.
Richard called Robert.
He answered cheerfully.
Denied everything.
Then calmly added:
“Charles always did enjoy inventing enemies before breakfast.”
Intelligent.
Dismissive.
Unshaken.
He admitted meeting Lydia.
For foundation matters.
Admitted meeting the lender.
Routine.
Admitted asking about succession.
Family concern.
Every fact had a plausible explanation.
Victoria understood.
This would not be easy.
Then Robert said one thing that froze the room.
“Ask Victoria why she signed the Red Harbor payments.”
She stared.
“I didn’t.”
Robert laughed softly.
“Your signature is beautiful.”
Richard checked.
Six authorizations.
Victoria Mercer.
Not digital clones.
Wet signatures.
May you like
She looked at them.
They were hers.
